Creating your own bar

I’m a former real estate agent in a different state, a former property investor, a former roofing contractor, a former pool and spa builder, a former heating and cooling technician, and a few other things. All of those former professions provide me with the knowledge to help people with their real estate needs, something I like doing.

Right now, I’m most able to help people in real estate through my career as a home inspector. However, I’m not your average home inspector.

I think the various standards set by the national home inspector trade associations (InterNACHI, ASHI, NAHI, etc.), as well as the state associations (CREIA here in California),

set the bar too low!

Since there isn’t a law preventing me from raising the bar, creating my own higher bar that can help my Clients better, that’s what I have done.

Although I have been a member of the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI) since March 2003, I use their home inspection Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics as my low bar upon which to build my high bar.

When creating my high bar with my many different types of inspections for different people in different circumstances with different needs, I had to determine who those people were. This was easy for me to do because I have also been a Marketing & Business Consultant for several decades.

As an example, a friend of mine, a Realtor at Century 21, had a condo listing in what I call a “hotel condo” building where the hallways and condo entrances look just like a hotel. He came up on his fifth month of a sixth month listing and had no bites on it.

When he came to me for help, I asked him what the average age of the owners was. “Oh, probably about 60.” Ah-ha! So it was a condo building with empty nesters who had downsized. Consequently, advertising on realtor.com and craiglist, while good, probably are not the best place to advertise a condo where only another elderly person would want to live, even though the complex is near a major university.

I got him advertising with AARP, the local newspaper, and other places where senior citizens hang out (Symphony, high-class restaurants, etc.). Boom! People were calling. He got his first showing and his first offer within hours of the Sunday paper hitting the streets. While they were in negotiations, he continued to get inquiries and three backup offers. By the end of the six-month listing, I had done a home inspection and escrow had sold.

If you’re going to create your own bar,
you have to know your target market
and where they hang out.